Jeb: Move U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem in Signal to Iran

Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush said on Tuesday that the U.S. should move the Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem as a signal to Iran in the face of their continued threats.

During a campaign stop in Greenville, South Carolina, Bush said that his second act on day one as president would be to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem.

“I believe our friends – and Israel is our closest ally – should know that we have their back. And this is not just symbolism when you move the Embassy to the nation’s capital. It is a clear signal that that you’re serious about the existential threat that Iran brings to Israel and to the United States,” Bush asserted. “It would be the most powerful thing you do to say, ‘We are back in business. We’re no longer going to do what the Obama administration did,’ which was turn the cheek left and right all the time – bam, bam, bam, bam.”

The Republican presidential hopeful went to lambaste the administration over the Iran nuclear deal, pointing out to a new report that the Iranian have increased dramatically their cyber-security attacks on the United States. “[This is] after the agreement was signed,” Bush stressed. “They now say they are ready for the agreement to take place in January when no one else believes that’s the case. They’ve made it clear that there’s not going to be any opening in their continuous oppressing of their people.”

“So, we should take them at their word when they say ‘Death to Israel. Death to America. And sending a signal like [moving the Embassy to Jerusalem] is important,” he added.

Bush first expressed support for moving the Embassy to Jerusalem in May. “I support that, absolutely,” Bush, who was at the time an undeclared candidate for president in 2016, said responding to a question about whether the city should be Israel’s capital. “I also support moving the embassy to Jerusalem as well — our embassy. Not just as a symbol but a show of solidarity,” he said.